Tita-Banti interview: nothing is free

A "golden" interview with Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti one month after their Olympic victory. Discover the secrets to their success, their most memorable moments and the values they learned at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where the golden Nacra 17 duo and SLAM Ambassadors won their second gold

Part I

How does it feel to cross the finish line and win a gold medal?

Caterina Banti

To win a second gold medal is a wonderful feeling, because it is something really hard to repeat, especially after winning at Tokyo. We came back to sail together with the goal of returning from Paris with another gold medal. It was a tremendous challenge, but we managed, we achieved our goal, and that is just such a great feeling.

Ruggero Tita
Crossing the finish line and winning a gold medal is a fantastic feeling. It’s a great reward after all the work you put in together over so many years. To win a gold back-to-back is just fantastic.

What was the biggest challenge you faced during the competition?

Caterina Banti

The biggest challenge we faced during the competition, on my part, was physical. I had to battle through some inflammation but I managed to give my best performance.

Ruggero Tita

The biggest challenge we faced during this competition was definitely the wind conditions, which were quite stable the first few days but on the last three days were really challenging. We had very light wind on the racecourse which of course makes things much more tricky, but we still managed to stay on top of the leaderboard and maintain the consistency needed to take the gold.

Can you share a memorable moment from the Olympics?

Caterina Banti

As for the regatta, I think it was the fourth day of sailing, when we started the day with an OCS. At that point, the points were getting closer to those in second and third. We couldn’t afford any mistakes but we still managed to come back from that day after 3 races and the point difference from the second was even greater than the day before.

Ruggero Tita

One of the most memorable moments of the Olympics was the first race because we hadn’t sailing for five days before the first race, which is something you we weren’t used to. It was because of the weather conditions and the race committee had decided not to allow any sailing outside the competition itself, so we had to wait for the others to finish their regattas. We had our first day of racing after these five days, which wasn’t optimal, but we did manage to adapt pretty fast to the conditions and were able to achieve decent results even on the first day.

How did SLAM's gear and support contribute to your success?

Caterina Banti

It has been very interesting to partner up with SLAM. During these three years we developed some excellent wetsuits. We worked hard together, and I really hope that the experience of these past three years will lead to some excellent gear for the next quarter, I’m sure it will. Huge thanks for their support and for a partnership of which we are immensely proud.

Ruggero Tita

SLAM contributed a lot to our success, providing us with the best wetsuits and the best gear. We’ve enjoyed a great relationship with them over this past year and we were really happy to be able to contribute to creating the foil collection. And, of course, being able to wear the best gear always helps you to win.